In Greece back in 373 B.C. rats, weasels, snakes, and centipedes left their homes and headed for safety several days before a destructive earthquake. In 1975 in China, people noticed that their pets were behaving strangely. So the officials made the people leave the city. A few days later a 7.3 earthquake hit their city. Millions of people were safe because they had listened to these animal signals.
Can Animals Help Predict Earthquakes?
Can Animals Predict Earthquakes?
Researchers in Germany are investigating ant behavior. They have found that red wood ants that have built their colonies on fault lines change their behavior right before an earthquake. Usually they spend their nights tucked in their mounds. But before earthquakes they stay out all night. Then after the earthquake, they go back to their underground home.
In addition, researchers have found that toads left their homes before earthquakes. In april 2009 in Italy, about five days before an earthquake hit toads left their homes. They returned a few days after the earthquake.